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Presenting new works by glass duo Ben Edols and Kathy Elliott, one of the most dynamic partnerships in contemporary Australian glass. Sabbia is thrilled to exhibit new works that were created in collaborative practice, with Kathy undertaking a residency at the Canberra Glassworks, and Ben working in the hot shop blowing the extraordinary forms.
In recent times I feel as though we have seen the veneer of civilisation we all acknowledged was keeping a general lid on chaos around the world start to crumble. It makes this work more pertinent to me as the imagery of powerful, surging bodies of water is a continuing metaphor for me of existing in a world of chaos. The questions I ask myself are; what is our steady rock, can we create opportunity in times of upheaval, what can we hope for?
Once again having the processes of blowing glass and carving glass to turn to as a refuge from circumstances that are outside our control is a relief and we are able to get swept up in doing what we both love.
For Ben challenging himself in the hotshop, the camaraderie of working in a team and the intense focus of applying their skill to create beautiful objects under extreme pressure is where he thrives. The pieces in this show are complex ; blown by a team of three glassblowers using multiple processes and colours – to have them survive the blowing process is a win.
For me, I love the process of using the carving wheels to work towards creating a design on the glass, the looking, the thinking, the stages of rough carving through to detailing. Having a relationship with the work as it evolves over time. There is risk taking in the carving process because these pieces are beautiful before I cut them. Will it be an improvement, will it be cohesive with the body of work we have already made, will it be interesting to me?
It was during my residency at Canberra Glassworks in Sept 2024 that I developed the River Stone and Cascade series. I wanted to do three things with the work: learn something new with each piece, consider the positive and negative spaces in the design and convey a sense of energy and power of the moving water. It was this conscious focus on the space around and between the carving that gives the show it’s title.
The two pieces titled ‘Rise’ were also made during my residency . Ben showed me a photo of a sunrise that was so beautiful, I asked him to make me two pieces that played with the colours I could see in the photo – the risk of making kitsch without wanting to was very high. I think of them as being the beacons of hope in the midst of the other work, a little like Pandora’s box.
Ben and I would like to thank Canberra Glassworks for their support, for the residency I had where I was able to push into new ideas, we want to thank Annette Blair, Rob Schwartz, Katie Ann Houghton, Dylan McCracken and Hugo Curtis for their assistance in the hot shop making these pieces
Kathy Elliott, March 2026
